I lost 16 stone to jet off on family holiday

Sue Thompson told family she was scared of flying but was actually terrified of squeezing her 27st body into a seat.

Now after dropping 10 dress sizes, the 40-year-old is taking husband Shaun and daughter Jessica-Ray, 15, on their first-ever sunshine break to Spain.

Sue, crowned Slimming World Consultant Slimmer of the Year, said: “I’d sort of accepted that being overweight was my fate.

“I genuinely believed that my weight would be what killed me, which is scary looking back now because I was only 37.

“I used to go to bed at night and wonder if that might be the night I didn’t wake up.”

Sue began piling on the pounds at school but only started to worry after becoming a mum. She avoided school events like parents’ evenings, worrying other mums would say she was a bad parent because of her huge size.

“I used to go to bed at night and wonder if that might be the night I didn’t wake up.”

Sue Thompson

“As I got older, I started to gain more weight but even embarrassing situations, like the time I cracked a sunbed at a tanning salon, didn’t motivate me to lose weight,” she said.

“It changed when I had Jess, I hated the idea that I might be an embarrassment to her or Shaun.”

Sue, from Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, now enjoys horse riding with her daughter and going to music festivals.

“I felt like Jess missed out because we couldn’t do things together, so I’m making up for lost time since losing weight,” she said.

“Life really has begun at 40 for me and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”